Scenes from an Italian restaurant

Actually it was a PETA protest in front of McDonald's on 11th Street. Hey I just take the photos.

Abandon ship

With temperatures still rising in the newsroom some of the staff decided to seek the greener, air conditioned pastures of downstairs in the sales office to work.

Those of us remaining in the sweltering newsroom have a new saying: "You have to be tough to work upstairs".

Tagged

This was one of worst taggings I have been too in a while. Vandals struck an old abandoned adobe home off Byron Road just outside Mountain House covering it with graffiti.




The graffiti was sprayed on in just one night marring outside walls, traffic signs and every signal lihgt pole near it.



It is a shame as it is a historic old house sitting near once was once the town of Bethany. All that remains is a few structures, this house and now the graffiti.

The $1,200 box

Ok so there is this empty wine box that gets auctioned off for the Tracy Volunteer Caregivers every year as part of a dinner auction to raise funds for the group. It doesn't have anything in it, just the cardboard dividers.


Last year it went for $1,200. This year the rumor is they are shooting for two grand.

Football camp

These are some shots from the Tracy High Bulldog skills football camp. No one really wanted them for the website but I still like the pictures.

92 degrees and climbing in the newsroom

Signs, signs, everywhere signs

Man are they strict at the Animal Shelter.

You make kitty scared

Heat wave

As temperatures soar across Tracy the newsroom is feeling the heat as well. Our air conditioning unit is on the mend sending the newsroom into the low 90's.


Electric fans and ice water are the order of the day as we suffer through this indoor heatwave as we wait for the repairman.

A summer’s tale

Photography is a funny thing, you can visit the same scene time after time and with a little change in the light you can come back with a different picture every time. I was feeling the walls closing in on me so headed out for a hike today. I chose the Morgan Territory joining two trails for an almost 6-mile loop.


I have hiked the trails at Morgan Territory before. They are well kept, marked clearly and desolate. My time on the trail today I never saw another soul which is ok by me. When you can hear the leaves falling down the trail and the sound of birds rustling in the trees it gives you time to think and reflect. Also means no one is wanting to pass me on the trail so I can take my time with the pictures.


My hike started out on from the Coyote Trail heading to the Bob Walker Loop with a return leg on the Volvon Trail. I have hiked these dusty roads before so it was just going to be a time to see what was different as I made the big loop.



Heading out from the staging area the first thing I noticed was the sky. A tropical depression had settled across the valley over the weekend bring warm temperatures and a blanket of clouds. The sky above the trail was a pattern of broken clouds and the mists of the virga as the rain evaporated in the sky.





The trail was quiet and hot, an occasional breeze made it bearable but the clouds had brought their moisture and humidity to the valley. I hiked through pockets of cloud cover with the occasional spotlight of sun filtering down past the clouds and into the trail. Summer has dried the colors on the trail to the yellow hues of dry grass and fiery red of poison oak along side the path.

Reaching the end of the Coyote trail I began the grassland portion of the hike with lots of sun to bake under as I wound my way across the landscape. Reaching the top of the loop I could see the cloudbank hanging above the valley stretching into the distance.



Shadows splayed across the trail from withered trees and twisted stumps. I would find the occasional pocket of color as trees held their last green leaves of the year before withering away in the fall and winter months.

It was a good hike, the solitude and trudging along the sweltering trail can help calm a troubled soul and the sights along the way are enough to reenergize my camera.

Virga

The weathermen called it a tropical depression as a blanket of clouds settled over the valley this weekend. hiking in the Morgan Territory this morning I could see the mists of rain that never makes it to the ground which is called virga. It looked pretty ominous in black and white.

Ok so this distubs me

So I don't know what I find more disturbing, the guy dressed in the fuzzy pink pig suit wearing a chef hat,

or the giant pinto bean flipping me off.